Going back
by magicshadow1
Summary: Clint never forgave his older brother Barney for leaving him all those years ago. One thing that he always wanted to know was why. Why did Barney leave his younger brother on his own? When Clint is sent on a mission and things go wrong he finally has that question answered, but will that mean they can be brothers again or will it split them even further apart? Rated T to be safe.
1. Alert

**So I've had this idea for a while and I know where I want to go with it. Hopefully you guys will like it because I think this could be good and again I hope you will agree. I've never actually wrote a fic for The Avengers but I have read many and enjoyed them. Also this is going to have a little violence in and also a bit of torture in later chapters but I will let you know before the chapter so you know when.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers at all and never will.**

Chapter 1

Fury sat in his office with his head resting in his hands. He was looking down at his desk, almost oblivious to everything going on around him. To a passerby he looked like he was almost asleep, not that anyone would dare question why he was asleep at work. Not unless they wanted Fury's wrath turned onto them and that was something no one wanted. Except for the rare occasions like Tony Stark or Clint Barton who took great pleasure in seeing Fury angry and nearly shattering the glass with his shouts of rage.

Tony Stark and Clint Barton, for once they weren't the reason Fury was mad. For the past week SHIELD had been getting signs of someone trying to hack into their system, so far they hadn't succeeded but the hackers were very persistent and weren't giving up. The first time the sirens went off Fury had gone straight to the Avenger's tower thinking that Stark was again trying to find out things he shouldn't know, but he was surprised to find that Stark was with the rest of the Avenger's and nowhere near any form of computer.

The last time there was any sign of someone attempting to get into SHIELD's files was just over two days ago and Fury had resigned into letting Bruce Banner and Tony keep an eye on things. Tony had backed up SHIELD's systems hoping it would stop anyone trying to get any form of access when they shouldn't and so far it was working. Bruce had started looking for traces and signs to see if they could get a lead on where the person or people where and was to report back to Fury as soon as he found anything. Fury looked at the phone on his desk. He needed to know how Bruce was getting on, if any information SHIELD had got out to the public there would be chaos. He was desperate and he didn't like being desperate. The last person that had made him desperate had ended up being smashed into the ground several times by Bruce's alter ego the Hulk, or as Stark puts it the enormous, green, rage, monster. Loki was now back on Asgard and not a threat to the world right now, he also wasn't Fury's main concern right now either.

Fury snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a faint siren going off. He muttered something incoherent under his breath and walked out of his office. "Someone turn that thing off" Fury ordered, "Agent Hill?"

"Their trying again, so far they haven't got anything but I don't know how many more times their going to try to get into the system. Turn the computers off, they can't get anything that isn't open" she said to the rest of the people in the room.

"Have you got anything new about them, who or where they are?" Fury asked already knowing the answer. If Hill had found out anything else he would be the first to know and wouldn't need to ask the question in the first place.

"Nothing" The Alerts went down and Hill let out a sigh, "Keep the computers going" she said to the room, "because they've stopped again" she said under her breath. This was starting to become a regular routine, one which Fury planned on stopping. Fury looked at her and struggled to hold back a smile. He looked around at the agents as they got back to what they were doing before and Hill got back to ordering the men. It was Fury's turn to say something under his breath as his phone went off.

"Fury"

"_Sir it's Bruce, we have a small lead." _Fury felt like shouting to the gods, finally they had something to go on.

"Good I'll be in the lab in a minute." Fury hung up the phone and headed back out the way he had come.

-LINE BREAK-

Tony looked up from his work and focussed on Bruce who was sat at a table reading a book. He glanced back at his work, which was a pile of metal that would soon be a new suit, and then decided. "So how long do you think it will take for Barton to ask out Natasha?" he asked casually. Bruce looked up from his book and stared at Tony.

"It's not my place to say" Bruce stated and went back to reading his book.

"Well yes, but how long do you think it will take Legolas to ask her?" Bruce let out a sigh and looked up from his book again. Sometimes Tony could really annoy him. Bruce made no move to answer so Tony carried on, "Do you think it will be days, weeks, months?" he asked. Bruce glared at him. "Years"

"Like I said it's not my place to say, Clint and Natasha's personal lives are none of my business and their not yours either." Bruce put his book down on the table and stretched his arms, he then rubbed his eyes. Tony watched him waiting for an answer. Bruce could feel Tony watching him and Bruce let out a sigh. "But if I was going to guess I would probably say" Bruce stopped talking and listened to the sirens that were now going off around the room. He looked over at Tony and showed a smile. Tony watched as Bruce made his way over to a screen on the other side of the room. Sometimes Tony really did wonder if things were planned against him. Tony got up from his seat and walked over to Bruce who was now typing away on the keyboard.

"Is there anything?" he asked even though he could see what was happening.

"Yes, whoever is trying to get into SHIELD's files is in New York" he answered, "Call Fury and let him know"

"You can call Fury" Tony told Bruce, he felt the need to expand what he had said, "Fury dislikes me." Bruce raised an eyebrow at his friend's words. Sometimes he really didn't understand his friend, Tony is happy to pull pranks and annoy Fury but he doesn't want to make a simple phone call.

"Yeh ok," Bruce pulled out his phone and called Fury.

"_Fury"_ he heard down the phone.

"Sir it's Bruce, we have a small lead" he said.

"_Good I'll be in the lab in a minute." _Bruce put the phone back in his trousers pocket and looked up at Tony. Tony looked at him suspiciously.

"Why do you look so shocked?" he asked.

"Fury actually seemed relieved" Bruce said as he walked back over to his book. He realised as he started to read again that the sirens had stopped. Tony looked at Bruce,

"How comes when I call Fury he always sounds angry?" Tony said to himself.

"Because you always call him to tell him something bad, like you've broken something" Bruce said from behind his book. Tony pulled a chair over to the window and sat down in silence. Bruce had a point. He looked out the window whilst he waited for Fury to come. A few minutes later they were joined by Fury in the lab and immediately Tony and Bruce looked up. His one eye looked at Stark and then at Banner. He walked over to the middle of the room and looked at the pile of metal Tony had been working on before speaking.

"What did you find?" he asked both Bruce and Tony. It didn't seem like Bruce was going to answer so Tony took the lead.

"He's in New York" Tony said simply. Bruce and Fury looked at Tony.

"He means that whoever is trying to get into SHIELD's mainframe is somewhere in New York" Bruce said, expanding Tony's simple answer for Fury.

"Is that it?"

"I did say _small_ lead" Bruce said walking back over to the screen with Fury and Tony following behind. "You see…" Bruce started to explain to Fury roughly how they traced the signal. Fury watched as Bruce pointed to each thing on the screen as he explained. About a minute later they looked away from the screen.

"Ok can you find the exact location of the person?" Fury asked.

"No, not until the guy tries again." Both men turned to look at Tony and Tony explained further when he saw Fury's questioning look. "When he tried ten minutes or so ago we didn't have long enough to find the exact location before he stopped. If he tried again we would be able to find where he is but until then all we know is that he's in New York." There was silence as Fury thought about what the billionaire had said, he then nodded and headed for the door taking one last glance at the pile of metal which would soon be Tony's new suit. He stopped just before the door and turned back to face the two geniuses.

"Can you tell me when you find the location" Fury said.

"You're giving us a choice" Tony said incredulously. "I never expected that to happen. Ever." Fury turned his gaze onto Stark. If looks could kill Tony Stark would be on the flaw. Fury looked Tony in the eye making the man feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Don't push me Stark" Fury growled and then left the room. Tony let out a laugh to which Bruce just shook his head. Bruce went back over to his book and started reading again. Tony walked over to a table still smiling and holding back laughter. He took a deep breath in and then his smile vanished as if he had never laughed in the first place. He then leant against the table and was silent for a few seconds. The smile appeared on his face again but smaller this time as he thought of something.

"So, how long do you think it will take for Clint to ask Natasha?"

Bruce closed his book and left the room, leaving Tony alone to talk with JARVIS.

Which he did.

**What did you think of the first chapter and should I carry this on? Please review I really like hearing your opinions on what I've written so please let me know, it also lets me know that people are interested and are reading it. In the same way if you think there is anything wrong or a way I can improve it let me know because I want to be able to improve my writing. I don't have a specific day for when I will update this because I don't want to rush a chapter and it be terrible. Anyway I hope you liked this, Goodbye. **


	2. Found

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Avenger's**

**Chapter 2**

_The boy, an eleven year old Clint Barton, pulled back the arrow and aimed. He let go of the string and the arrow flew into the air and hit the centre of the target with a satisfying thwack. A small smile appeared on the boys face when he saw the arrow lodged firmly in the target. Clint remembered the first time he had hit the centre of the target. He was ten, nearly eleven at the time. He had ran to his brother and told him the great news, Barney was happy for his brother who had a great love for the weapon he was using. Barney had then proceeded to watch Clint as he had fired arrow after arrow at the target, all of them hitting it. _

_Barney had been growing more and more distant from Clint since then, leaving his younger brother to get on with his circus life and become good at what he likes. That was something Clint had done and was now known as Hawkeye, the best young archer around. Barney watched every performance Clint did on the stage and was happy for the young Barton. _

_Barton let loose another arrow and saw it hit the target again, this time directly above the first arrow. He then fired another two arrows so that there was a line of arrows in the centre of the target. Clint walked over towards the target and pulled out the arrows. He wrapped his fingers around the last arrow, the one in the centre, then let go. He walked back to his position away from the target and placed an arrow on the bow. He pulled back the string and aimed. He stood there for a couple of seconds and then let go of the string. The arrow soared through the air and hit where Clint had aimed._

_The arrow that was left in the target._

_There were now two arrows in the target, one buried in the other. Clint smiled and just managed to not shout out in joy. Stifling a yawn, Clint walked back over to the target and pulled the two arrows or to be more accurate an arrow and an arrow head with split wood coming out of it. As he walked back to the room he slept in with his brother, Clint couldn't stop smiling. Whenever Clint hit the centre of the target he couldn't help a small smile appearing on his face, but hitting the middle of the arrow shaft made the smile on Clint's face twice the size and every time he tried to stop the smile just came back._

"_Barney, Barney, I just hit an arrow…" Clint stopped talking. There was no one in the small room. There were two beds and a draw for his and Barney's few possessions. "Barney?" Clint walked to the draw and slowly pulled it open. Only Clint's things were in there. Barney's were gone. Clint fell back onto the bed behind him. "Barney."_

_Tears fell down the eleven year olds face as he realised his brother had left, his older brother, the one that was meant to look after him had gone and left him alone. _

Clint woke in his bed. His heart was racing and his face was damp with sweat. He still didn't know why. So many years later and he didn't know why his brother had left him, whether he had done something wrong or not. The one thing Clint did know was that he had never forgiven his brother for what he did and he didn't know if he ever would.

Deep down Clint missed his brother but never did he show it. Slowly his fingers relaxed from the fist he had them in. Letting out a sigh Clint took the cover of his pillow. It was slightly damp with sweat and Clint really didn't feel like sleeping on a sweaty pillow later on. The pillow cover ended up at the bottom of the bed in a crumpled heap. He would get that cleaned later. Clint put on some clean clothes, dark blue jeans and a black hoodie, and looked at his alarm clock.

The clock on the bedside table showed that it was seven o'clock in the morning. With a stretch and a yawn Clint made his way out of his room and into the kitchen of the Avenger's tower. Steve was already there reading a book and Natasha was also there watching the T.V. whilst enjoying a bowl of cereal. As Clint walked in both Steve and Natasha looked up and they both smiled a greeting. Clint smiled back and put some bread in the toaster.

His heart was still pumping hard from the nightmare he had had. He had had worse but this one stuck in his head for the longest. He guessed it was because that one thing that happened so long ago had changed his life entirely. If Barney hadn't left him then Clint wouldn't have ended up joining SHIELD and he wouldn't have become one of the Avenger's. He wouldn't have the friends he has now. When the toast popped back up Clint put some butter on it and took a bite. As he sat on the sofa Natasha looked away from the T.V. "Good sleep?" she asked.

"Yeh, normally I wake up far earlier than this." Natasha gave Clint a disbelieving stare and Clint looked back in confusion. Steve glanced at the two on the sofa. Maybe Tony was right about them, they could end up together. As Thor walked into the kitchen Natasha got up pulling Clint along behind her. When they were both in a corridor alone she stopped and turned towards Clint.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing, I had a great sleep." There was a crunch as Clint took another bite from his toast.

"Look I know when you're hiding something. Did you have a nightmare?" she asked. Clint knew he could tell her, Natasha had been his friend for many years and she told him nearly everything.

"No." Clint looked at Natasha. "I told you I slept fine. Now all I am is a little hungry" he said finishing off his toast. Natasha looked at him. Clint let out a sigh, "How did you know?"

"I know you and I know when you're lying to me, even if you are trained to lie, you can't lie to me. Plus you were completely silent as you came in. You always come in happy and cheerful and make some kind of joke." Natasha's voice was soft as she spoke to Clint. "And you smell sweaty" she added as an afterthought. Clint let out a small laugh.

"Bad enough that I need a shower?" The red haired agent nodded and let out a small laugh.

"Definitely, what was it about?"

"Nothing just, just about my brother" Clint confessed. Natasha looked at her closest friend. "About him leaving," Clint finished. There was silence for a while as both thought about what Clint had said. Then something that never happened, happened. Natasha gave Clint a small, quick hug not knowing another way to comfort him. When they broke apart Clint looked at Natasha.

"What was that for?" he asked. Natasha shrugged her shoulders. "I'm going to go to the gym," Natasha smiled and watched Clint leave.

**-LINE BREAK-**

Tony waited for Fury to arrive. Tony had found 'The hacker', as they now called the man that was trying to gain access to SHIELD, and Tony had called Fury straight away and had text Bruce to let him know too. Tony had been sitting in a chair with his legs resting up on a table when the alarm went off, signalling that 'The hacker' had tried once again. Unfortunately for Tony he had fallen from the chair in shock and landed badly on his elbow which now hurt a lot. Tony was pretty sure that it was already bruising.

He had instantly got up from the floor and ran over to the computer and saw the dot on the screen showing that 'The hacker' was still in New York. After a minute the dot zoomed in on the map of New York to a road not far from the Avenger's tower. That's when he got out his phone and called Fury. Maybe he wouldn't have to listen to the siren going off again.

Fury walked through the door of the lab, his coat flowing out behind him like it was Thor's cloak. Like always Fury was wearing all black and mostly leather. His eye patch covering his left eye making him look like a pirate. No one knew what had happened to Fury's eye. Not many people had the guts to ask. Tony had gone to ask once but then stopped when he saw Natasha giving him a warning shake of her head. "So you've found him." Fury walked into the centre of the room again. He noticed that the pile of metal from the last time he had been in this room had gone. In fact the room looked far cleaner; Bruce had probably cleaned whilst he was waiting.

"Yes, 'The hacker' was in a café not far from the Avenger's tower. That was about five minutes ago, he may still be there but I don't know for sure." Fury nodded and walked over to the screen, Tony was right, not that Fury believed he wasn't, 'The hacker' was in a café only a few streets away from the Avenger's. Bruce walked into the lab at that moment. His clothes were creased in places and his hair was tangled and knotted. The man also had grey bags under his eyes. He had probably been sleeping. Bruce and Tony had been taking it in turns to be in the lab whilst the other went and had a snack or rest or just have some time to relax.

"Have you found him?" Bruce asked as he unsuccessfully tried to flatten down his hair. Tony nodded and took a sip or his coffee.

"The chance that he's still there is low, but I can go down there now and look," Tony offered. Fury stood in silence as if he was thinking about it.

"You can't," Tony looked at Bruce in confusion. "You're Tony Stark, everyone knows who you are and everyone knows that you're Iron Man. 'The hacker', he's been trying for a week, he would know what you look like and he would certainly know that you're an Avenger and working for SHIELD. I can't go, I couldn't risk the other guy coming out and killing someone, not in a small shop where most people may be having their lunch."

"He's right, we need someone that no one would recognise by sight." Tony and Bruce nodded.

"Steve and Thor can't do it either, they wouldn't know what sought of thing to look for, especially Thor who still doesn't fully understand a computer yet. Clint or Natasha would probably be our best bet." Bruce rubbed his eyes as he spoke.

"I'll get Phil to call one of them" Fury stated as he sat down in one of the chairs. It was surprisingly comfortable for a metal chair.

**-LINE BREAK- **

The café wasn't very big, it was square with all the walls a cream colour except for the front wall which was mostly made of glass as a window to look out of. There were six tables in the café with four chairs around each, there were a few waiters giving food to people and at the back of the room was the cash register. There were four tables outside of the shop so people could eat outside on a sunny day. The place was mostly full with only a few tables spare.

Natasha walked in and looked around before taking a seat at one of the tables. Not long after a woman walked over and asked what Natasha wanted. Natasha asked for a coffee and then the women left and went behind the counter at the back of the room.

Natasha didn't even know how she had ended up here. Phil had called her and explained they had found 'The hacker' and that she was to go to the location and find him. She didn't have much information to go by either. She didn't know what the man looked like, if he was a man. For all SHIELD knows, the person they were looking for may not even be a man. Tony had told her that the person would probably have a laptop and be ready to leave at any minute, but that was all they knew.

Natasha had chosen a table against the wall so that she could see everything in the place and no one could come up behind her. She pulled out her phone and pretended to be texting someone. As she did this her eyes flicked about the place looking for a person on a laptop. There were two. One inside next to the door and the other outside in the sun, the man inside wore a shirt and tie whilst the other had a coat on and jeans. Why he was wearing a coat in this weather was a complete mystery to Natasha who was hot in the sleeveless top she wore.

The phone vibrated in Natasha's hand and she clicked answer.

"Natasha" she said into the phone.

"_It's Tony, have you found the guy yet?"_ Tony asked down the phone. Natasha had been told they would communicate on the phone instead of an ear piece so that she would draw less attention to herself.

"Not yet" Natasha replied as the waitress came back with her drink. Natasha smiled at the waitress. "Thanks," she said and the waitress smiled and walked off.

"_Thanks, Thanks for what I didn't do anything."_

"Not you Tony, I was talking to the waitress." Natasha could just imagine Tony smiling, he knew that she wasn't talking to him.

"_Is there anyone with a laptop?" _he asked.

"There's one inside and one outside" she said. "I think it's the one outside but I'm not positive. I'll call you when I know." With that said Natasha hung up and put the phone back in her pocket, checking that her gun was still tucked into her trousers as she did it. She took a sip of her coffee and leant her head on her arm. Keeping an eye on the men from the corner of her eye she saw the one outside start to pack away his laptop and put it in a backpack. There was a breeze as he opened the door and walked into the room. He stopped at the counter and then paid. It was then Natasha saw it. A glint of a weapon as the sunlight caught it.

The man looked at Natasha as if he could feel her looking at him and Natasha quickly looked away. Now she could feel him staring at her and then all of a sudden he ran from the café. Natasha abruptly stood from her chair, the force pushing it backwards onto the floor, and ran after him.

**So what did you think to this chapter? Hopefully you liked it. Again please review and tell me what you thought, if you have any questions about it or didn't understand something let me know too. I would like to thank salwyn77, Shelly2728 and pulchritude96 for reviewing last time. Thank you. Anyway I should be able to update this soon. Bye. **


	3. Prisoner

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers.**

**Chapter 3**

_Now she could feel him staring at her and then all of a sudden he ran from the café. Natasha abruptly stood from her chair, the force pushing it backwards onto the floor, and ran after him._

The gun slid easily from her trousers as she raced after the man. Her gun was already loaded and ready to fire, she just needed a clear line of site; which she couldn't get as there were many people around getting on with their simple lives.

The man looked behind him and saw Natasha only seven metres away. His heart was racing, he had been told that he wouldn't be in any danger and that SHIELD wouldn't be able to trace him to the café. How wrong his boss had been or maybe he had just lied. The man wouldn't put it past his boss, after all his boss wanted him to hack into a secret government agency. There was a cry of shock as the man ran into a woman and she fell to the ground. People started to take notice of him and Natasha then. As the people stopped and stared at the man being chased they stopped what they were doing, only to get in the way of both the man and Natasha.

There were more cries of shock as the man proceeded to push people out of the way and onto the hard, cement floor. Natasha was starting to catch up with the man; every person he pushed out of the way meant that Natasha could get that little bit closer. The man knew this and pulled out a gun aiming it in the air. He wasn't a killer, and never planned on being one. There were several loud bangs as bullets were fired into the sky and there were screams of fear as people got down on the ground or hid behind cars.

Natasha chased the man around a corner and down an alley. There was no sight of the man. It was like he had disappeared. She then looked up, the one thing that people forget to do was look up. The man was running up the stairs and he was already near the top. The red haired agent jumped over the railings of the stairs and started to make her way up. Unlike the man she made her way easily up the stairs with hardly any sound. The man had on the other hand seemed to be slowing down.

The man slid to a stop and looked below him. There was nowhere to go. He was going to die. He could either jump off the roof or let the woman kill him. He turned round and faced Natasha who was standing with her gun aimed directly at him. The man swallowed his fear and looked Natasha in the eye. He was shaking, he could feel it and he took a deep breath in to try and control it. He was also sweating, a lot, and starting to regret wearing a coat. The only reason he had in the first place was to hide his gun, a weapon he had no intention of using on anyone.

"Put the gun down on the floor!" Natasha ordered as she stared the man directly in the eyes.

"And then you will kill me."

"How do you know? If you put the gun down I won't have to shoot you but if you don't put it down then I definitely will kill you." The man looked at Natasha and then at his gun. He didn't know what to do. His heart was racing and he felt like he was going to be sick. Without even thinking he pulled his bag off his back and held it over the side of the roof. "What are you doing?" Natasha asked as she watched the man hold the back out behind him.

"Let me go or I'll drop the bag." The man's arm was shaking.

"Why would I care, it's just a laptop, nothing important."

"Isn't it what you want?" he asked.

"I want you because you're trying to hack into SHIELD. If you put your gun and bag down I won't shoot you" Natasha said. Whatever was on the laptop was obviously important the man had just told her that, even if he didn't mean to. The man looked Natasha in the eyes and started to let go of the bag.

Just as the bag slipped from the man's grasp an arrow flew out of nowhere and through the edge of the bag, making the bag hit the roof instead of falling and smashing the ground metres bellow. The man let out a yelp of surprise and turned round to see where the arrow had come from. That was all Natasha needed, she crept up behind the man and brought the handle of her gun down on the back of his head. With a faint crack and a groan the man fell to the floor in a crumpled heap.

Natasha looked across to the roof opposite her and smiled. Running across the opposite roof was Clint. As he neared the edge of the roof he jumped and landed next to Natasha. "What are you doing here?" she asked as she cuffed the unconscious mans hands together.

"What does it look like, I'm saving your ass" Clint said in a matter of fact tone.

"I didn't need saving and you didn't save me" Natasha said.

"No, but if it wasn't for my amazing skills and astounding accuracy with a bow then you would have lost the laptop" Clint said with a smile. Natasha looked at him and raised one eyebrow.

"Amazing skills and astounding accuracy with a bow, if only that was true." Natasha pulled the man up and started to drag him over to the stairs leaving Clint to ponder on what she had said.

As she started to make her way to the stairs she heard Clint shout over to her, "But that's the thing, it is true." Natasha just shook her head and carried on walking. Natasha heard light footsteps on the stairs behind her. "It is true" Clint whispered to her as he walked past her with the black backpack over one shoulder.

**-LINE BREAK-**

"Why were you trying to get into SHIELD files?" Natasha asked the man in front of her. The man, Lewis .C. Matthews, was sitting in a chair with his hands tied securely behind his back. He was shaking and was refusing to look at the red haired woman who was facing him. Natasha was leaning back in the uncomfortable metal chair, over all the spy looked very relaxed the complete opposite of the man in front of her. Lewis did nothing. It was as if Natasha hadn't even spoke, Lewis just stayed in the same position staring at the table.

"Look, I was hoping we could do this the easy way, I am exhausted and really don't want to go through the hassle of forcing information from you. I don't want to listen to any man screaming in pain either; it always gives me a nasty headache." This time Lewis did look up. He stared at Natasha as if trying to find out whether she was lying. Not that anyone could tell. She had been trained to lie, it came as second nature to her. There was fear in Lewis's eyes, fear and hatred, although Natasha wasn't entirely sure if the hatred was directed towards her or someone else. The man still didn't answer.

"I mean you wouldn't die, but you would be in pain, a lot of pain. But I don't have to, I really don't want to. None of it has to happen, just answer my questions, you go to prison for a few years and then you can be free and get back to your normal life."

"They will kill me if I say anything" was the shaky reply. Natasha held back a smile. The man had already given a lot away without even meaning to. Now they knew there was more than one person.

"SHIELD prisons are highly protected, no one can get in or out. No one could kill you there." There were several minutes of silence until there was a scrape of a chair as Natasha stood up. She pulled her gun out of its holster. She slowly pulled back the top until there was a click and then let out a sigh. The man watched her every move and when Natasha pulled out her gun his eyes grew wide with fear.

"I don't know why, I was never told" he said looking defeated. Now they were getting somewhere. Natasha had no intention of hurting the man but making him think she would was the easiest way to get him to talk.

"So you just said yes without a question" she said.

"I, I was scared. When he first came to me he seemed friendly but as I got to know him I realised he wasn't. He would kill me if I asked questions or refused." Natasha watched the man. He seemed to be telling the truth but then you could never be sure, if she could lie believingly then so could the man in front of her.

"Who would kill you?" The man looked down he would be killed if he said any more. He would be killed now. "Who would kill you?"

"My boss, Jason Green, I don't know why. There's only a few of us me, him and a few others. He doesn't tell us anything. Most of us stay because we're scared." The spy looked at the figure in the chair and then made her way to the door. As she opened it she turned back.

"What's the password for your laptop?" she asked. It would be far quicker if they could just unlock the laptop rather than waiting hours for Tony and Bruce to force their way into it.

"Abby Mathews" the guy said. As he said the name Natasha could have sworn she heard the man try and hold back tears. Abby was obviously someone important to him that was gone. Natasha smiled at the man and then walked out, locking the door behind her.

**-LINE BREAK-**

The place where Lewis and his colleagues were working from was an abandoned house, a house on the edge of New York that had been destroyed a few years back in a house fire. For some reason that Clint didn't know the house had never been rebuilt, but instead just left to fall in on itself and not be restored. It had apparently been ownerless for more than a year before a group had kids had decided to have fun and set it a light. Maybe that was the reason. No one lived there and no one had tried to live there in a long time so no one saw the need to fix it. Whatever the reason was though Clint didn't care and neither did Fury.

"You want me to just watch it?" Clint asked slightly confused.

"Yes, and if you see this Jason feel free to put an arrow in him or bring him back to SHIELD" Fury said, his one eye staring at Clint. Clint opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. "But mostly I want you to watch the house to see if anyone goes in or out."

"Why don't I just go in and look around to see if anyone is in there?" Clint asked. This was surprisingly how most of Clint's missions started. Him and Fury would talk about why Clint would do something one way if there was a quicker and easier way to do something, or Clint would bring up a different plan on how to do something.

"I want you to just watch because we don't know if Natasha's new 'friend' Lewis it telling the truth. Just watch it for a bit days and report back on how many people go in or out, then I will send the rest of the Avengers over and you can go in. For all we know there could be more men in there than just a few and even the 'Amazing' Hawkeye couldn't take out hundreds" Fury said putting emphasis on the word amazing.

"I doubt a hundred" Clint said to Fury, "You're over exaggerating by just a little." Fury looked stone faced at Clint. "Anyway that's fine, how long until I leave?" he asked ignoring the directors face.

"Five hours" Fury said. Clint nodded his head and got out of his chair and then walked out of Fury's office. Five hours to get ready and then SHIELD would be able to get back to its relatively normal day.

**So what did you think of this chapter, please review and let me know, also if there are any mistakes with spelling or anything else tell me or if there are ways to improve let me know. Bye.**


	4. Mission gone wrong

**I would just like to say thanks to salwyn77 for giving me some tips to improve my last chapter. I really appreciate it. If you want to go back and read the chapter again that would be great but if not then I just made Natasha do the interrogation scene instead of Clint and I changed his and Fury's conversation a little. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers at all.**

**Chapter 4**

The house was in a clearing with trees roughly 10 metres away from it on each side. They formed a sought of wall that almost protected the house from people seeing it whilst they were out, they didn't help as much when the house was on fire. Some of the trees, the ones on the left side of the house, were dead. The fire had caught them in its fiery fingers because they were slightly closer and they had then caught on fire as well. The fire had obviously been put out before it could spread to any other trees because only a few of them were leave less and charred and burnt.

The house its self was on the small side and Clint estimated that it was probably built for only four people, two adults and two children most likely. It had two floors and the top floor wall on the left had collapsed showing a bedroom. From what Barton could tell it had a double bed and cupboard, mostly everything else was burnt and unrecognisable. The left side had definitely got the brunt of the fire, the walls that were standing were burnt and had black marks covering them.

Clint was sat up in one of the trees completely hidden from view. The assassin had been up the tree for the last two hours watching the house. So far no one had gone in or out, the only thing that had moved were the tree branches when the wind occasionally blew. Every now and then Clint got a branch to the face as if it was hitting him for sitting in it. Maybe trees had feelings too, Clint definitely knew that he would hit someone if they tried to sit on him. Unless it was a child or Natasha, why there would be a child sitting on him he didn't know but he wouldn't hit them if they were, he may question them as to what they were doing and then feel extremely awkward and want to disappear into thin air.

He knew Natasha would never sit on him. She wasn't like that and had never been like that in the many years they had known each other, if Clint was honest he didn't want her to sit on him but he wouldn't necessarily mind if she did. He liked Natasha but just as a friend, a very close friend but that was all. She was like family. But then again he did like her and they got on very well. That was the reason he had followed her when she was at the café. He wanted to make sure she was safe. It was stupid really, of course Natasha could take down one guy on her own but he still wanted to make sure.

Clint snapped out of his thoughts, slightly annoyed that he had been distracted. He never got distracted, well until now he thought bitterly. Clint bit the inside of his lip. He needed to stay focused, even if he was bored out of his mind. There had been a noise that was what had Clint on high alert. As he listened closer he could just about hear the sounds of people muttering. Both the voices were deep and one of them was slightly croaky like the man had a sore throat.

Two men appeared from the trees about five metres away from Clint. The two men wore similar clothes. They both wore jeans and had tops hanging untidily down their body. They both had leather jackets over their tops and everything they were wearing was black. It was like a sought of uniform except they seemed to be wearing their own clothes. Both men were also holding a pistol in their right hand. Even if these men weren't working for 'the hacker' they were definitely trouble and Clint would have to keep his eye out whilst he was here. Clint could easily take them down if he wanted but really didn't want to get involved in any fighting at this priciest moment.

He was actually very comfortable being perched up in the tree. He was leant up against the trunk about 5 metres up. He could see everything he needed to in each direction, and no one could see him. Up high he felt safe, he could climb higher than most people dared and it meant he could stay clear of people he didn't like. Also being able to climb up high and get through small spaces whilst being quiet at the same time meant that Clint could sneak up on people and scare the hell out of them when he so pleased. Clint could just about hear them as they got closer to the house and in so doing getting closer to him.

"We're early, why don't we go do something else instead of waiting in a burnt down house in the middle of nowhere, we could go get something to eat. I'm starving," the man with the croaky voice said.

"Because we're meeting Green here in only half an hour, by the time we get anywhere where they sell food we will have to come back." The other man sounded bored with the croaky voiced man.

"But we haven't eaten since lunch." Clint watched the two men arguing by the door to the house. They sounded like a couple of kids not two men that were working for a guy that wanted to hack into SHIELD. They had also given Clint what he needed to know. Jason Green would be here in half an hour.

After the two men had finished with their disagreement they went inside the house. Before closing the door one of them looked to make sure no one was watching, satisfied he closed the door. A small smile appeared on his face, people never noticed him and if they did it was usually too late for them to do anything about it.

This meeting really needed to hurry up and take place. Clint had been sat in the tree for about twenty minutes and was regretting not bringing a coat. It was going to rain and if Jason Green didn't show up soon Clint was going to get caught in it. Clint didn't necessarily mind the rain but he knew that he was going to get cold with the wind blowing as well.

By the time Jason Green finally showed up it had started raining. It had started out very lightly but had gotten heavier with every couple of minutes, now it was quite heavy. Luckily for Clint he had the tree shading him from most of the rain but when the wind blew it gave the rain a couple of seconds to get the untouched assassin that was taking cover on a branch. Clint was still watching even with the rain falling. When Clint noticed Green walking towards the house trying unsuccessfully to cover his head from the rain his spirits did rise a little. Green had two more men with him both were dressed like the two men already inside the house and they both had guns as well.

When Green walked into the house Clint pulled out his phone and called Fury. "Sir it's Barton, 'the hacker' has just entered the house."

"_Good, I will send the others down there" _Fury spoke from the other end of the call.

"Yes sir and he only has four men, not a hundred. I didn't even know a pirate ship could have that many crew members but then you're the expert after having had a crew yourself," Clint waited for the threat that he knew would now be coming.

"_Don't make me come down there myself Barton" _Fury growled into the phone._ "The others will be about ten minutes."_

"Aye Aye captain" Clint said then quickly hung up the phone before he could hear Fury's reply. He would wait for that when he got back to SHIELD. Five minutes had passed when the door to the house opened. All five men walked out of the house into the rain. Clint sat up and watched what they were doing. They were leaving.

"Sir what about the meeting" one of the men asked Green.

"We can have that at a different time. SHIELD have caught Lewis, their on to us we need to get out of here before they come. I don't trust that man to keep his mouth shut." Clint watched them start for the trees. They were leaving and he needed to do something to stop them.

He pulled an arrow from the quiver on his back and fired it at one of the men. There was a scream of pain when the arrow struck him in the stomach and he fell to the ground. The four remaining men pulled out their guns. None of them where aiming in the right direction, another man let out a shriek of shock when an arrow flew into his gun, knocking it out of his hand.

Clint jumped down from the tree with hardly any sound and kicked the gun across the ground before hitting the man in the head with his bow. The man fell to the floor unconscious. Another man ran at Clint who took an arrow out of his quiver and forced it into the guy's leg. He pulled it back out and then he fired the same arrow at the fourth man running towards him.

There was only him and Jason Green now. Clint pulled another arrow from his quiver and placed it on the bow. He pulled back the string and aimed it at 'The hacker'.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the man said. He had black hair and dark piercing brown eyes. There was a scar on his left cheek about three centimetres long and he his voice was deep. "You wouldn't find out where the rest of my men are." As he spoke a smile appeared on his face. Clint was told 'the hacker' only had a few men but if what the man was saying was true then he couldn't kill the guy in front of him. If he did then SHIELD could still be attacked. The man's smile grew as he watched Clint think about what had been said.

Just as Clint decided on what he was going to do he felt something hard hit the back of his head, his legs buckled and he fell to the ground. Just before he fell unconscious Clint saw Green helping up the guy that Clint had shot first. "Good aim with the rock," Green said as Clint succumbed to the darkness of unconsciousness.

**How did you like the chapter and if you reread the last one please tell me what you think of it. I was also wondering whether this should have a little Clintasha in or not. It could go in either direction so what do you think? Like always please review and favourite I really appreciate it and it lets me know people are still interested. Again if you have any tips tell me and again a big thanks to salwyn77 for the tips before. Bye.**


	5. The other guy in the room

**Hello again, chapter 5 is up and ready so I hope you enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the…  
Tony- Avengers, of course you don't no one owns me.  
Steve- Actually Marvel Studios owns you. It owns all of us.  
Tony- And you're happy with that Capsicle, wow and here I was thinking that…  
Thor- THOR IS NOT OWNED BY ANYONE!  
Fury- Will you all shut up and let the disclaimer be said.  
Clint- Aye Aye Captain. (Fury glares at Clint)**

**Anyway I don't own the Avengers.**

**Chapter 5**

The first thing that came to Clint's mind when he came back round was the throbbing pain at the back of his head. It was like a house had been dropped on him. _Well maybe that was an exaggeration. Ok that was a big exaggeration; damn I need to stop having conversations with myself in my head. _Slowly he opened his eyes, there was blood on the floor next to his head and he could feel his hair dried to his face.

His head really hurt and his wrists were sore. His arms were tied awkwardly behind his back with what felt like some kind of rope. The rope was thick and tightly wrapped around his wrists. He tried to sit up, which was very hard when he was on his stomach, and get comfortable. It came to no success, if anything it just made him feel more uncomfortable. He slowly and steadily got into a sitting position, if you could call it that, and leant his back against the wall.

The wall was cold even through Clint's clothes he could feel it. The room was square and the walls were grey. There was a small hole in the ceiling right in the centre that let in enough light to see. The hole was a square with metal bars going across it, maybe it was big enough for Clint to fit through, if he could get the bars off and climb up there that could be his way out of where ever he was. Clint filed the information away for future use. There was a single door, it was metal and a dull grey, on the wall to the right of Clint. It looked strong from where he was. _Of course it's strong, it wouldn't be much use if it wasn't. _Clint let out a sigh, he was arguing with himself again.

The room was quite boring and cold, especially with his clothes still being wet from the rain. The smell was bad, the air was stale and it made him want to gag. Clint slowly got up by pushing his back against the wall and pushing up with his feet. He then pulled one leg between his arms and then pulled the other through so that his arms were in front of him. There was movement out the corner of his eye, there was someone else stuck in here with him.

Clint looked in the direction of the movement. If you looked closely you could just make out the shape of a person sitting on the ground, their head looking in Clint's direction. Clint opened his mouth to speak when the lock on the door started to rattle. Quickly Clint sat down, landing awkwardly onto his knee just as the door opened. A simple mission, this was supposed to be a simple mission. Keep an eye on 'The Hacker' and call Cap and the team in, then go back to SHIELD with 'The Hacker' with them. This, being captured was definitely not meant to happen. Now he had a headache the size of America itself and most likely a bruised knee. Maybe not that bigger deal at the moment but Clint was annoyed with himself. Annoyed that he had been captured, that he had let his guard down, that he had been captured by a bunch of thugs with guns. He was a master assassin, he shouldn't have been caught, not when he was only against five men.

How had that even happened? Clint Barton captured by people that had a skill level way below his. The world knew him as Hawkeye, part of the Avengers, helped save the world from Loki and his Chitauri army, saved millions of people's lives and here he was stuck in a cell and most likely going to be killed or tortured. _Fun_.

The door opened with a creak as the rusted hinges protested at the forces pushing against it. Light shone through the door frame lighting up the room for a brief second and at the same time blinding Clint whose eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the room. Clint forced his eyes to stay open and fought back the tears that appeared because of the stinging. A man walked in front of the door way and placed two trays next to the wall before closing the door which protested again and then slammed shut. The noise of the door connecting with the wall echoed around the small room causing Clint's head to throb more than he thought was humanly possible.

Clint watched the door as it was locked again. Maybe that could be his way out the next time they got food, if only one man was there it wouldn't be very hard at all to take him out and escape. Escape route 1 found, he just had to find at least one more in case that one didn't work. Maybe he could get through the grating in the ceiling, if he could find a way up there, but that seemed unlikely. Even if he did get up there how was he meant to reach the bars in the middle.

There was a groan as the other person in the room got up. Clint had figured there was another person, when you were captured you didn't usually get double helpings, in some cases you didn't get more than the scrapings. The guy walked over to the trays and picked up his own before walking back to his corner and sitting in the shadows. Clint watched the man as he did this before getting up himself and walking over to the tray left behind.

The tray was cold and it had a glass half full of water and a bowl which had a beige slop in it. Clint moved the spoon around in the bowl and the contents seemed to move as one lump. Overall the food, if you could even call it that, looked very unappetising. "Is there a second menu, this looks like it was made for the dogs" Clint said to the room. He was almost shocked when there was a reply back, he hadn't expected the other guy to talk.

"To them we are the dogs, I would eat that you won't get much else all day." The guy's voice was rough and he seemed to struggle with talking like he hadn't drunk anything for days. Well if he was stuck in this dump he probably wouldn't have had much. The voice was deep as well and seemed to echo around the small room, but something seemed familiar like Clint had heard the voice before. He didn't know where though, it was at the back of his mind just out of his reach.

"I may eat it in a bit, I've never been into eating sludge" Clint said walking back to his wall. He placed the tray on the floor and looked at the wall ignoring the nagging thoughts of why he recognised that voice. If he couldn't remember it, it couldn't have been that important but there was something telling him it was, something telling him he should know that voice. That he shouldn't just ignore it. The wall was still grey and still cold when Clint put his hands against it. The only problem was it was smooth, it was cold and smooth and made of metal. In other words he couldn't climb it unless he suddenly inherited Spider-mans powers, which Clint had to admit would be very cool but very un likely. So there was no going up and out, only through the door and out. Great, it was always the harder way.

Clint sat back down against the wall and bit back a sigh. He pulled the tray towards him with his boot and picked up the glass. He then took a sip of the water and then watched as the remaining water swirled around in the glass. The water was icy cold and very refreshing for Clint's dry mouth. He hadn't realised until then that he was actually quite thirsty. He took another sip of the water and then placed the glass down on the tray. He then picked up the bowl and spoon, and tried some of the sludge. It was lumpy and cold in his mouth and seemed to protest going down his throat. It didn't taste of anything either, it was plain and boring. Clint put the spoon back in the bowl and then placed the bowl back on the tray. Maybe he would eat that if he was actually hungry.

"So what's your name?" Clint heard from the corner. Again that voice he recognised, the one that made him angry for a reason he couldn't think of, he should remember it, it was something he should remember but couldn't. Why couldn't he?

"Clay Burton" Clint said. That was one of the names he had gone with over the years, it sounded like his name and the chances people would link it with Clint Barton where low. People didn't think that a cover name would sound so much like your real name, they would think you would go with a name as far off as you could get from your real one. Sometimes Clint went with names nothing like his, once he had gone under cover with the name James Harper. That mission had gone well, a lot better than this one and it was harder than what Clint had had to do on this mission.

Clint had been under cover working for a weapons merchant by the name of Felix Williams. He had been there for months studying what weapons were shipped out and where they were shipped out to. He had then reported back to SHIELD when he could. The mission hadn't gone exactly to plan but it still went well, he had got the mission done. He had captured Felix and brought him into SHIELD's prison as well as helping SHIELD find and capture some high priority targets that were getting weapons off of Felix.

There was silence. "How did you get caught?" the guy asked. Clint glared at the floor. The last thing he wanted right now was to answer questions from some guy he hadn't even really met and seemed to make him angry by just talking. That nagging feeling at the back of Clint's mind was telling him that they had met before though which just made Clint not want to talk more.

"Annoyed the wrong guy at a bar" Clint said. It was a pathetic excuse but it was plausible. Again there was silence. The guy didn't seem to talk after that, satisfied enough with Clint's answer. Clint let a small smile show and he let his head rest against the cold metal wall. He closed his eyes and relaxed, he was shattered and he didn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon so he might as well rest. He would only sleep for a couple of minutes, he just needed some rest so that he would feel more awake and be able to think straight.

_Clint walked into the house standing closely next to his older brother. Clint only came up to Barneys waist, his older brother was 16, seven years older than Clint. Clint's eyes were still red and swollen from the crying, he had cried almost nonstop since they had told him. His mum and dad had died in a car crash leaving him and his brother alone. They were told this morning and were almost immediately taken to this place. A children's home, the place where everyone was the same, where everyone had no parents to take care of them either because they had died or the parents didn't want them._

_The two Barton's had two bags each with their possessions. One full of clothes and the necessities, the other one which was considerably smaller had a few of their chosen belongings from home. Clint's had a few books and a couple of comics, there was also a picture of him, Barney, his mum, and his dad all of whom were happy and together as a family. Barney had helped Clint pack his bags making sure that his younger brother would have what he needed, then on the ride here had stayed as close to Clint as possible. _

_A woman walked up to the two boys standing in the door way and smiled. She seemed kind and friendly but Clint still moved in closer to his brother's leg. Barney looked down at Clint with a sad smile, this wasn't going to work. "Hello, my name is Cindy and I will be looking after you whilst you're here" she said, still with the smile on her face. "I'm guessing that you are Barney and Clinton Barton." Cindy held out a hand but neither of the two Barton's shook it._

"_He prefers Clint" Barney corrected. Cindy looked at Barney shocked and then her smile, that Clint was starting to dislike, appeared back on her face._

"_Clint" she said looking at the young boy. Clint stayed looking at the ground and kept a firm grip on Barney's trouser leg. "Why don't the two of you come in and I will show you around." Cindy walked past them and closed the door, she then pushed them forwards slightly in a bid to get them moving. When she walked back past them Barney followed, struggling slightly with the added weight of his bags, Clint, and Clint's bags. The joined boys slowly made their way up the stairs without falling over and were shown to their rooms, Clint would be sharing with another boy his age and Barney would be sharing with three others boys. One his age the other two a year older. Cindy left the two of them in Clint's room and told them that dinner would be ready in an hour._

_Barney looked at Clint and then lifted the younger boys bags onto the bed. Clint walked over and climbed onto the bed. There were fresh tears in Clint's eyes threatening to fall but not being allowed to by him. Barney then went to leave the room but stopped at the door when Clint called his name. "I don't like it here" the younger Barton said._

_Barney let out a sigh, he didn't know what to do or say. The truth was, there was nothing he could say to make Clint or himself feel better. He walked over to Clint and knelt down in front of him. "I know, but they will look after us and you're going to have a friend to share a room with. That's good isn't it?" Clint shrugged his shoulders and looked at the wall behind Barney. He didn't want a friend to share a room with, he didn't want Cindy and her annoying smile to look after him, he wanted his mum and dad. He wanted to be at home with his family and have his parents looking after him. Not be trapped here with people he didn't know._

"_I miss them" was all Clint said before the tears fell. Somehow there were still more tears even though Clint had been crying all day._

"_I know, I miss them as well but you have me and let me tell you something. They will always be with you ok, all you have to do is think about them and they will be there." Barney hugged his brother and Clint hugged back. "I'll always be there too, if you ever need to talk about something with me, of need help or just want to be with me you know where I'll be, but you need to be strong and show everyone here what a true Barton is like and show them that you are not afraid or upset. Just remember that I won't leave you and I will always be there when you need me."_

Clint slowly opened his eyes, confused for a second as his sleep filled mind figured out where he was. Then he remembered that he was caught by 'The Hacker' and stuck in a room with some guy that he did but didn't know. Clint sat in silence for a moment thinking about the memory he had just woken from. The same sad emptiness inside him that always made an appearance after he had had a thought or dreamt about his family appeared. He missed them, he missed his mum, his dad, he even missed his brother slightly deep, deep down inside him.

Then it came to him. Why he had just had that dream of his brother, Barney saying he would be there for him. It came down on him like a ton of bricks, why he recognised that voice, why part of him was angry every time he heard it. It made him angry to think that it was him, that he was stuck in a room with him. It made Clint want to punch the wall, made him want to shout and let all his anger and hurt that he had gathered over the years out. He couldn't believe it, he didn't want to believe it. It was his brother. The other guy in the room with him was Barney.

**And the 5****th**** chapter is done. Thank you to salwyn77 for the great review I am glad you liked the last chapter.  
So what did you all think of this? Please review and tell me what you thought, every review is read and each one makes me happy and lets me know you guys are reading and liking this, so please review and tell me what you think. Thanks again to salwyn77 for the review. Until next time, Bye.**


End file.
